Overview to Cuba: Travel Guide and Tourist Information
Cuba is utterly unique. A gorgeous tropical island with a fascinating people and an idiosyncratic political situation which has made time stand still since the 1950s… There’s quite simply nothing in the world that comes close to the Cuban experience.
In terms of travel, there are a few important things to learn before entering Cuba. Apart from the mandatory visa, travelers are earmarked by the currency they use: the CUC, or convertible peso. Use of the ‘local’ currency, the CUP, is severely limited to foreigners.
Exploring Cuba can be a confusing experience; statistically, its people are impoverished (they earn on average US$15 a month), and yet their stock in life is really not so bad due to the high amount of free food and healthcare provided by the country’s socialist government.
Most travelers, of course, head to Havana for its seriously sultry nightlife, where the streets writhe to salsa rhythms nightlong. Havana is just as mesmerizing by day, however, with an intriguing mix of decaying colonial buildings and antiquated skyscrapers.
Away from the capital, the pleasant seaside town of Baracoa is worth a visit, while Pinar del Rio is the destination for those on a pilgrimage into Cuba’s cigar-making heartland. The colonial-infused town of Trinidad, meanwhile, provides for yet another appealing trip.
The country’s beaches are, of course, as good as any going in the Caribbean. And since the white rum is also legendary, visitors can be forgiven for heading straight to the coastline and kicking back while sipping on a mojito or three!
